A lying president before the Focap

As a Filipino, I find it embarrassing that our President in his speech before foreign correspondents seems to think that they’re stupid, that they wouldn’t see through his lies.

“Connect the dots,” he lectured them in his speech at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) the other day, “all of these attacks came after plunder cases were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against a few well-known politicians.”

He was quite obviously referring to as the “known politicians”, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon Revilla, Jr. and as the “attacks”, the outrage against his so-called “Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)” which critics have pointed out patently disregarded the General Appropriations Law.

But what happened, which is so easy to verify since the events happened only last month, is that the issue broke out as a result of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad’s bungling attempt to justify Aquino’s bribing of senators to take out Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012.

On September 25, in order to defend himself from the allegations that he stole money from his pork-barrel funds (officially, Priority Development Assistance Funds or PDAF) Senator Estrada in his privilege speech claimed that administration senators were given an extra P50 million in such funds as their reward for removing Corona.

Aquino’s DAP “stimulus program”: ARMM Governor Hataman distributing P1 million checks from the fund to his governors this year.

Even as the usually clueless Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang arrogantly denied Estrada’s allegations, claiming that the “records are there,” senators, including those allied with the administration said that they did get not only P50 million, but P100 million as additional pork in 2012.

September 26 the next day, Abad issued a press release. Nope, he confidently announced: there were no such additional pork barrel funds released to the senators. Rather the funds were part of DAP, he said, designed to stimulate the economy.

What? You can just imagine the senators looking at each other, and shaking their heads, and commenting: “What the heck is this ‘DAP’?”

Another Abad blunder: In his confused thinking that it would prove that there was no such bribe, Abad claimed that even Senator Joker Arroyo, who voted to acquit Corona, got P47 million out of the DAP.

That’s when the s— hit the fan, as it were. Minding his own business and blissful in his retirement, the very credible and articulate Arroyo—the closest adviser of the President’s mother Cory Aquino—blew his top and went to town, shouting, “What the hell is Abad saying?”

The rest of course, to use the cliché, is history: The nation was shocked that a president could be so arrogant, dictatorial, or dopey—or all of these—to throw to the dustbin the budget law that specified how taxpayers’ money would be spent, and to invent a “DAP” that directed government money to any use at his, or Abad’s, whim.

If there was a conspiracy, as Mr. Aquino claimed, it was a conspiracy of Abad’s idiocy combining with his imperiousness: That senators, constitutional experts, and the thinking public wouldn’t see how illegal the DAP was.

In his Focap speech, Aquino even claimed that two years ago, “media lauded government” for its DAP, “that it (funded) projects that have helped perhaps millions of our countrymen.” Aquino said that the DAP “helped us overcome the inertia that the economy was experiencing then . . . and we are sustaining the momentum up to now.” He credited the DAP for the 6.8 percent GDP growth in 2012.

Aquino is lying, or is living in his own fantasy world.

I’ve searched and searched, I could find no news report, no opinion column —not even from his known apologists, not even in statements of his spokespersons or releases by the Philippine Information Agency—praising, the DAP as a factor in the country’s economic growth.

Even the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank had absolutely no reference to Aquino’s DAP in their monitoring reports of the Philippine economy. This is in sharp contrast with regards to his predecessor President Arroyo’s “Economic Resiliency Plan” which however didn’t’ hijack funds from projects specified by the budget law and which allowed the country to weather the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

The only reports on the DAP were press releases issued by Abad’s department in December 2011—when Aquino gave it his OK—and in January 2012.

Very strangely though, after that, there were no longer any references to it, and none of the usual boasting by Aquino that it reflects his competence and innovativeness in overseeing the economy. Why?

Very strangely, this administration, to this day, hasn’t made public any official document signed by Aquino or by Abad ordering or authorizing the setting up the DAP. Why?

The answer to these questions is quite obvious.

After Abad’s enraptured announcement on the creation of the DAP in December 2011 and January 2012 Malacañang lawyers or administration stooges in Congress whispered to him and Aquino: “Stop mentioning this DAP, it is illegal, even grounds for impeachment. Just allocate the funds, but don’t say where it is coming from.”

And indeed anyone who last read about the DAP in January 2012 forgot about it.

Abad obviously forgot that warning and pointed to the DAP in his klutzy attempt to reply to Estrada’s allegations in September.

In his speech, Aquino also claimed: “I was perplexed to hear that some people equated the DAP with PDAF, when, simply, it was a program that strategically allocated funds to agencies that had already proven the capacity to implement projects and programs rapidly and efficiently.”

What a liar. Work on the P1 billion Tacloban International Airport—in opposition congressman Martin Romualdez’s home province—was ongoing when Abad hijacked P718 million of its budget and put it in his DAP.

Were the following allocations by the DAP—based on official DBM releases—fast-moving programs that stimulated the economy in 2012?

• P8.6 billion to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which Aquino himself complained in June 2012, were slow moving or were not even started yet. The ARMM government had so much money that as late as this year, its governor Hajiv Hataman was distributing checks for P10 million to the regions’ provincial governors.

• P1.8 billion to the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army and the Moro National Liberation Front ostensibly for the training in livelihood projects of their surrendering guerillas;

• P1.2 billion given to the interior and local government department, which couldn’t be used at the end of 2011, according to the COA, because the department didn’t even have a work plan on how to spend the money;

• P2 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development for such projects as day-care centers and its endless “supplementary feeding projects’; and, of course, the biggest allocation,

• P13 billion or nine percent of the P142 billion DAP as additional pork barrel for members of Congress in 2012, on top of their P24 billion PDAF.

tiglao.manilatimes@gmail.comwww.rigobertotiglao.com and www.trigger.ph

The worst thing that befall our contry today is to have a vendictive and a liar president. Now the worms in the can are all coming out in just 3 years. The illegal and impeachable act of using public funds that his minions could not even account for is a criminal act of the president. No matter how they justify these kind looting of public funds, using public money not in the GAA is illegal, how much more this DAP which was only invented when they run out of lies to tell the people how on earth these vultures in the senate and congress got so much money during the impeachment of Corona? I’m angry because this mentally retarded president will get away with all his crimes simply because the legislative and the judiciary are all the rubber stamps of malacanang. what is consoling though is that such evil things will not last forever. Hope will die last for people who are struggling to live simply because they are denied of what belongs to them. These hundreds of billions if not trillions of public funds being diverted its use for personal vendetta will not go unpunished in due time.

In order for him (PNOY) to restore his credibility to the people as his all time favorite slogan & i quote “DAANG MATUWID” let this pork barrel 10B scam investigation i.e. senate, NBI, DOJ, Ombunsman to name a few to prove that there was indeed if not all but some government officials accountable for dusbursing these pork barrels to the bogus NGOs, let nobody is above the law regardless of who these officials are, put them all in jail if found guilty when this investigation completed, hoping there will be no hokus focus on the investigation. the sooner the investigation completed the better because as a filipino citizen awaiting for the results whatever it comes.

the reason pnoy still enjoys high ratings is because most of the electorate are not very bright. They dont understand much about anything. I try not to criticise the people for their ignorance as lots of them have very little education. But pnoy does think people are stupid just like every last president & every congressman & senator & thats how they want it so they can all still getting their money for themselves out of government coffieurs . Like the bonuses to the sss its shameful, but its a case of you scratch my back & ill scratch yours. If all these bonuses & perks of any sort even what politicians get are good enough for them then why not give the normal working man those bonuses. I remember all the perks of the cj corona & it was shameful, who made it that people get all this extra money that no one knows about.

Let the Malacanyang boys talk and talk and talk. They are contradicting it’s other anyway. Let them make themselves act like a clown. Anyway, everyone knows the score. Lying president and his minions who are defending the administration’s corruption is an open secret. The more these people lie, the more the embroil themselves and lost their credibility.

Given all disclosures about PDAF and DAP, I find it hard to believe that Aquino still enjoys a 79% approval rating according to Pulse Asia. Clearly, this survey firm has perfected what Noynoy does normally, lying. It is clear to me now. Whenever Pnoy loses his credibility due to his mishandling of the government, and of the people’s money, a survey comes up in his favor to deceive the people that he is still popular.

add to these he P1.2 B given to the MIAA to rehabilitate NIAA,nothing has been done except a few cosmetic change to the lavatories but never the less still earned the “worst airport” in the world title.

I don’t know what your agenda is. But I guess in a democratic society, an opposing crtic/writer like you is a necessary evil. The Philippines right now is the envy of ASEAN countries and likewise here in Europe due to its exemplary handling of the economy as indicated by its unprecendented GDP rate, its unrelenting thrust against corruption, its transparency spearheaded by a non-cheating, non-lying, non-corrupt President. Not since Diosdado Macapagal did we have a President who is honest and well-meaning- but I must admit that there is still a lot to do (as one writer keenly observed) that he is surrounded by a coterie of incompetent and not so clean underlings. I would greatly appreciate that writer like you should help Pnoy weed out the inept and corrupt in his cabinet instead of rattling of useless criticism for the purpose of undermining the gains and progress made by this administration.

I agree that all Filipinos must be proud and support our President because I believe that what he is doing is courageous and try to have the Philippines, an honest government. Removing corrupt officials is not an easy job. I have confident that another President like Pnoy to continously do the “daang matuwid” at kung walang corrupt walang mahirap motto, will give the Philippines the best economy in the very near future. We must stand and help each other and not critical of what he is doing. Maybe there are some honest mistakes in making decision but the goal is to make Philippines a better one. As you have notice, after Marcos regime, it is only Mr. Pinoy who was really determine to weed out the bad and corrup officials. Because of too much corruption in the government, he has to do it one by one. With the help of other strong ladies at the moment in the government, I believe and confident that we will reach the goal of erradicating corruption, not now but at least this is a very good start. We must support our President Pnoy.

Such a claim must be backed by a source, sir. Please do give factual data to support your claim that the Philippines is the envy of ASEAN countries and that our president does not lie and does not cheat. Otherwise, don’t waste our time with your expression of love for that arrogant liar.

Transparency? But the FOI bill is still no where in sight. Especially since Pnoy keeps on refusing to mark it urgent. And why are you diverting from the point of the article? You have no arguments that the savings Pnoy was always boasting about where all results of the numerous infrastructure projects he had cancelled? And even with the so-called savings the palace and senate are now saying calamity funds are depleted and have no other funds that can be reallocated for the victims except the PDAF funds?

the Philippines is an envy in ASEAN? who are you kidding? the surveys that favor this gov’t are paid. to help this president is to change his advisers. Most of them are for their vested interest not for love of serving this country. Buong Abad nasa gobyerno, ano ito family corporation.

Tell Noynoy to get rid of CUISIA as US Ambassador then. Teleconferencing in Private entities is not an excuse. He still receives honoraria, aside from his salary from the govt. BIR boss Kim, what you say?

“The Philippines right now is the envy of ASEAN countries and likewise here in Europe due to its exemplary handling of the economy as indicated by its unprecendented GDP rate”? Yeah right, Mr. Gozum. When you’re in the Philippines, try to look objectively the scenes outside Forbes, Bel-Air, Ayala Alabang, etc. and let us know if you still think that those scenes are envious, I won’t touch anymore your comment about the “transparency, non-lying, non-cheating and non-corrupt president”.

What “envy of ASEAN and European countries and unprecedented
GDP rate, and unrelenting thrust against corruption, transparency by non cheating, non-lying and non-corrupt President” are you talking about? tumira ka nga ulit dito so you will know why Filipinos hate this gov’t…

As the leader of our country, the worst thing that a President can do is to tell a lie. Satan is the father of all lies and I’m wondering how our country could be blessed with a kind of President that we have. No wonder, these are what we got… ……..unprecedented graft and corruption ( 900 M Malampaya Fund for ghost projects, 10 B PDAF scam, and DAP Palace invention – these are fruits of greed, lies and deception ), typhoons destroying properties and lives of people, earthquakes, floods, unprecedented rise in poverty, increasing number of people experiencing hunger, MNLF’s mishandling, Hongkong blunder, and many more.
Is this the Da-ang matuwid….Kung walang korap walang mahirap… all about ? …. Does the President ever think what is happening in our country today ? Obviously he is committing blunders in making decisions one after another….A wrong spirit is guiding this President, …..he has to find this out by himself…..He is so unforgiving and unapologetic…..Not even respecting the dead hongkong tourists who were victims of the Luneta incident, –now our countrymen working in Hongkong are in danger of losing their jobs…He needs to be educated that, what happened there, was a command responsibility, the President being the Commander in Chief ? A good leader admits his failures and must have the ability to change..His blame tactic approach, will not do him good….He is unnecessarily creating enemies…including those sleeping in power……Let’s just pray that God will delay his wrath of what is to come ….For this I pray that this President will one day wake up, realize what he has done, lead his people to confess before God….the sins of his administration and lead them all to repentance….. Doing so, perhaps, God will change his mind just like what he did to Nineveh…… in the time of Jonah…

Telling the truth is easy than pretending to be truthful. Abad and the President would just enumerate the good where the money went to. But to speak the truth is hard when truth is out of existence. Till now there is no pronouncement how the money was spent by the Palace. Is it not suspicious and shocking for a holy man walks like a drunk in his trade mark Daan na Matuwid.

Indeed the King of Pork is living in a world of fantasy, as what Mr. Tiglao is saying here. One is afraid that the bi-polar medications this mentally sick man-child is affecting his mental faculties, making him live a world of imagination. Surely his handlers knows PNoys mental status that is why they are controlling him. Apparently PNoy cannot make decisions for himself and depends on his key KKKK and allies. Somebody must make a in-depth research who is manipulating PNoy because he, she or they is making the King of Pork their stooge. His handlers are the men and women who must be blamed for all the scams, scandals and corruption going on in the countryl